Error Of Our Ways

They ask me, the ones that are curious/

“Hey, where’d you get that scar from?”/

I sometimes have to take a step back, pause, and just look at exactly which scar they’re asking about/

Can they see the ones beneath my skin?/

Our largest organ is our skin, and oftentimes to most we are judged by how healthy it appears/

If it’s pale, shallow and sunken, we are unhealthy/

If it’s tan, defined and full, we are portrayed as healthy/

We’re always asked, if you could change one thing about you, what would you change?/

 

Beauty

How can we be beautiful in a world that looks no further than our skin?/

Too skinny, too large, bad breath, bad teeth, imperfect skin, big nose, small breasts, poor looks, cheap clothes, it goes/

To all the things we call each other in the name of beauty/

 

The definition of a scar is ‘a mark left on the skin’/

And when we’re asked the most puzzling question/

What would you change about yourself?/

You’re being asked a question as though you’ve spent your entire life thinking the answer/

And we can answer anything!/

We could change our height, change our size, change our definition/

We could change our skin, lose our blemishes and show perfection/

But I often think to myself, what exactly is perfection? /

Imagine that, what exactly is perfection?/

 

My answer every time? /

Perfection is the ability to look in the mirror, know your imperfections yet still smile/

Because there is no such thing as perfect perfection/

And if you disagree, take a look around our society/

 

Have you ever had that memory that you remember from when you were younger?/

From when you were young and took chances/

And today I don’t see anyone taking those chances/

Some of us have learned, and yet some of us have never taken a chance/

Take a chance/

Yet I sit back most days, listening and watching/

Body language, words spoken and facial expressions/

And I choose not to comment when I see people hesitate, when I see people falter/

When I see a chance that could be taken yet isn’t taken/

In today’s society, beauty, money and social status stands for power/

That’s what I see on social media/

That’s what I see on television /

But does it really? /

Or doesn’t it lead to scars as well?/

 

So/

They sometimes ask with a smile, or hesitation as if they think they will offend me by asking/

I could stand there and smile, give a shake of my head and tell a story

“Oh, I got it in a fight” or “I was stupid”/

But that wouldn’t be honest/

So I laugh and give them a smile, and answer honestly

“I don’t remember”

Because it’s not healthy to look back on the past but to look forward/

We write our own story/

And so, to answer the question they asked/

Hold on a moment,/

“I don’t remember”/